Shingle strip



Dec. 5, 1933.

F. w. YEAGER 1,937,933

SHINGLE STRIP Filed July 15. 1951 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHINGLE STRIP Application July 15, 1931. Serial No. 550,962

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a shingle strip. It relates more particularly to a shingle strip having tabs or projections along one edge which simulate the appearance of individual shingles when laid upon a roof. The strip may be conveniently cut out from a sheet of roofing material which comprises a felt or fibrous base saturated with waterproofing material such as asphalt, for example, and coated with a layer of plastic bituminous material such as asphalt, for example, upon which a layer of wear-resisting material such as metal, crushed stone, slate or the like may be applied. This application is a continuation in part of application Serial No. 706,835, filed April 16, 1924.

Heretofore in forming so-called multi-strip shingles ,from sheets of roofing material the strips have been so formed that when installed upon a roof a monotonous appearance is produced due to the fact that the tabs or projections are aiike. By the present invention this objection is overcome. The shingle of this invention may be conveniently and quickly applied to a roof or other surface and imparts thereto a variegated or hand-made thatched appearance. The strip shingle of my invention combines the advantageous features of strip shingles, such as permitting rapid and ready laying of shingles to form a. roof, with the beauty and artistic effects obtained by the application of individual shingles which differ in shape, length, and width and which may be laid so as to impart to the surface a hand-made, artistic appearance.

One object of this invention is to provide a strip shingle having along one longitudinal edge thereof tabs of different lengths and widths, the differences in the dimensions of the tabs being such that the elements may be cut from a sheet without waste except for the material removed to form the slots between the tabs and the cutting operation results in the production of identicalelements. This feature of proportioning the dimensions of the tabs so as to produce identical elements in the cutting thereof permits packaging of shingles in uniform bundles with all edges of each shingle properly supported and without loose or protruding edges. This eliminates damage encountered in the case of shingle packages having loose or unsupported edges.

The invention will be understood from the description in connection with the accompanying drawing which shows how the multi-shingle may be cut from a strip of roofing material.

In the drawing, reference character 1 indicates a strip of roofing material which is indicated as a strip sufficiently wide to produce two series of rows of shingle strips although wider sheets of roofing material may be employed thus producing a correspondingly larger number of series of shingle strips. The strip 1 is slotted transversely to form slots 2, 3, 4, 5, etc., some of these slots being Wider than others and the slots being cut at different distances apart so that the projections or tabs between the respective slots vary in width. The strip 1 is also cut or slit longitudinally along lines 6, 7, 8, 9, etc., which lines intersect the strip between the slots. These lines 6, 7, 8, and 9 may be at different distances from one edge of the strip 1. On the drawing, the line 7 is shown to one side of the median line of the strip 1, substantially the same distance below this median line, viewing the drawing, as line 8 is above this median line. Similarly, the lines 6 and 9 are disposed equidistances above and below, respectively, this median line. In this way tabs or projections are formed on the respective shingle strips which tabs differ somewhat in length and also some of the tabs on one shingle strip differ from correseponding tabs upon the strip which faces it in the sheet 1. No tab exceeds the length of another one on the strip by an amount as great as the length of a tab and no tab is spaced from an adjacent one a distance as great as the width of the narrowest one. The slots 2, 3, 4, etc. may be altered by sloping lines 10, 11, and 12 so that some of the tabs will be slightly pointed or have their corners cut oil as indicated in the drawing and the ends of the shingle strips are severed from each other along lines 21 at intervals, these lines extending from the edge of the strip 1 to one of the transverse slots.

It will be noted that of each pair of shingles, as cut, the diagonally opposite end tabs 13, 14, and 15, 16 are of the same length, width, and shape, and the diagonally opposite intermediate tabs 17, 18 and 19, 20 are of the same length, width, and shape. While the tabs on each strip differ in length, width, and shape, by turning the lower shingle, shown on the drawing, 180 so that the tab shown on the extreme left overlies the tab of the upper shingles, shown to the extreme right, all other tab edges of both shingles of the pair coincide. Consequently, due to this relation between the lengths and widths of the tabs of the shingle, identical shingles may be cut in pairs and by turning one shingle of each pair in the same plane the shingles may be packaged with all edges of the shingles in each package coinciding and properly supported. This eliminates damage to shingles necessarily encountered when packaged with loose, extending, or unsupported edges.

The only waste of material that occurs when the multi-shingles are cut out as above described is that which comes out of the slots and these multi-shingles may be installed in the usual way thus avoiding the mechanical or monotonous appearance that usually characterizes roofs of this sort. By having several tabs or projections of various types attached together. it is practicable to install the same and procure the variegated effect while avoiding the difilculty oi packaging various types of individual shingles and appropriately distributing them upon a roof to procure a similar eilect. The various types and sizes of tabs insures appropriate distribution on the roof and further variety may be obtained by starting horizontal courses at different points, always taking care that joints are broken and that slots in successive courses are not superimposed. It is obvious that shingle strips of different colors may be interspersed on a roof, or the individual tabs, with or without the contiguous body portion, may be surfaced with difierently colored granular material, thus providing a greater variety in appearance.

I claim:

1. A strip shingle having tabs of different lengths and widths along one longitudinal edge of the body portion of said shingle, one of the tabs contiguous to one transverse edge being the longest and the tab contiguous to the other transverse edge being of a length no greater than the length of the shortest tab on said longitudinal edge. the tabs between said tabs contiguous to the transverse edges or the body portion being of the same width and of different lengths, the difierences between the lengths of the tabs being such that when two like shingle strips are placed with the forward edge 01 the shortest tab abutting against the forward edge of the longest tab, the other tabs of the two shingle strips will also abut, whereby the shingles may be cut in pairs, utilizing substantially the entire sheet except for the portions cut out to form the slots between adjacent tabs.

2. A strip shingle comprising a body portion having spaced tabs 01' different lengths and ,widths disposed along one longitudinal edge thereof, the lengths and widths of the tabs being such that like shingles may be cut in pairs from a sheet, utilizing substantially the entire sheet except for the portions cut out in the formation of the slots between tabs, diagonally opposite end tabs of each pair of shingles, as cut. being of the same length, width, and shape, diagonally opposite intermediate tabs of each pair of shingles, as out, being of the same length, width, and shape so that by reversing one 01' a pair of shingles, as cut, and placing it on top of the other shingle of the pair, all edges or the one shingle coincide with and overlie the edges 01' the other shingle of the pair, whereby the shingles may be packaged in uniform bundles with all edges 01 the shingles in each bundle overlying and supported by the edges of the underlying shingle.

FRANK W. YEAGER. 

